1) There's only been one deadbeat so far, with Quark_Star replaced by Epitaph1. However, I gave several players great leeway with returning and issued over 3 invites to at least two players. In the future, 3 invites is going to be the limit, and then we'll go to reserves. Please PM me if you're going to be away from the site, unable to accept games.

2) The scoreboard is fully updated and is, essentially, being updated daily (if not more frequently). It is explained in detail above. Note that I'm adding red squares when an individual player's round is complete and s/he can score no more points in that round.

3) Note that if a terminator game reaches the round limit, the winning player does not get bonus points for eliminating the players who still have territories on the map. This is implicit in the first post, but I'm making it clear now. So not all terminator games will award 13 points.

4) We are moving along very well in Round 1. Madagascar is long since done, Australia is almost done (about 8 games to conclude), and South Africa has 3 games remaining. The standard games--Oceania and Africa II--are taking a little longer, but that's to be expected. Cairns Coastal is the frustrating one, since it's a bigger map, but it is what it is.

5) For Round 2, all invites for the standard and terminator games are now out. If you haven't joined, you'll get a second call soon. I am holding the assassin and 1v1 invites for a bit. I don't want a situation where we are waiting weeks on the conclusion of the standard Europa and Nordic games, so I will time the invites for the remaining 4 European games (British Isles and Cyprus) to start once the entire first round is over or almost over.

So we are now down to one Africa II game, one Oceania game, three Cairns Coastal games and that one South Africa game. First round almost complete.

Please check your first round scores. I do not mind making amendments or corrections, but I'd like to do them as soon as possible.

Assassin games for Europe (British Isles) will start coming now.

Also, I'm actively updating the score and putting red squares once you've lost that game (not waiting until the end of the round). It gives people a better idea of where things stand as we head toward the first elimination point.

All games in the first round are complete. Congratulations to t4mcr53s2, who scored an impressive 56 points and leads after the conclusion of the first round. crazy4catnip is hot on his heels with 53 points after one round.

The final Cyprus game should come later today. That is the eighth and final game for the Europe round. The top 60 players will advance to the third Round, so keep an eye on the scoreboard (remember that Row 62 actually lists the #60 ranked player). If you note any mistakes or inconsistencies, please let me know. Good luck.

Had a minor SNAFU with the scoreboard. There was a sorting error relative to the first round data and I had to go back in and re-enter the first round totals. Please be extra vigilant and check your totals. I think everything looks good now, but want to be sure.

Second round is progressing well. As can be seen, we are starting to see some official eliminations. The progression scenarios should become pretty clear shortly.

22 active games remain in the second round (of 208 total games). Cyprus, British Isles and Nordic should be done very shortly. Iberia may not be too far behind. Some of the Europa and Balkan games are taking a bit longer. With round limits, though, it shouldn't be any longer than two weeks to complete. Good luck to all those battling it out for advancement.

Looking at the scoreboard, the remaining games and making some projections... there is a decent chance that 31 could end up being the magic number for advancement. That could prove problematic, if we have too many people tied at that spot. In short, we might need a tiebreaker, which could delay the start of the 3rd round. Will try to keep things running as smoothly as possible with minimal delays.

5 games left, 5 qualification spots remain. Everyone with 32 points or more is clear to Round 3.

It is, unfortunately, now going to be awhile until we know all 60 qualifiers. One of the players who is mathematically alive is in a Balkans game that is--somehow--only in Round 22. That game will need to finish until we know the results. Once we know 59 qualifiers, however, I will create the games, conduct the draw and start sending the invites.

Right now, everyone with 31 points or more advances. There are four active players currently below the 31 point mark who could still score enough points to reach the 31 point threshold. Here is how that breaks down:

1) Hath is involved in Balkans game #1. He currently has 29 points. If he scores a single elimination, he will join a tiebreak scenario at 31 points. If he scores more than a single elimination, he advances and there is a tiebreaker for the players currently on 31 points.

2) adam666, Dew8Bank and ProsthoDoc are involved in Balkans game #9. For adam66 or Dew8Bank to advance, they need a full win (4 eliminations + win). For ProstheDoc, he can only force the tiebreaker by getting a full win. Obviously, only one of these players can advance. If any of them do get the full 13 points, a tiebreaker will be triggered.

3) If Hath doesn't score in Balkans #1 and none of the three players mentioned above scores a full 13 points in the Balkans #9 game, we will avoid a tiebreaker. If we need a tiebreaker, it could be anywhere from a 2-player to a 5-player situation.

Really good news. It's been brought to my attention the exact wording of the tiebreaker stipulation in the first post. The first tiebreaker for a multi-player tie is:

"Most points from the concluding round"

Despite the fact that we didn't have eliminations after the first round, the second round is still a distinct round from the first. Therefore, most points in the 2nd round will be the first tiebreaker, if necessary. This will likely prevent the need for a playoff on the Classic map (which could have delayed the tournament for up to 2 months).

If anyone has any questions, let me know. But I've re-read everything and I think this is the proper interpretation of the rules as they've been written.

I went ahead and did the draw for the Triple Alliance games in Round 3. The bottom three places are provisional, so only 57 of the 60 invites have been issued. This will keep things moving and will also allow us to see if we have any deadbeats. If your game only has 4 players invited, please be patient as it will take a few more days to fill in those spots. Thanks and good luck.

And now only two spots are provisional, as only two players with active games could surpass 31 points, meaning Gilligan qualifies as he holds the tiebreaker among the 3 players currently tied at 31 points.

Balkans game #9 isn't over, but it's in the 30th round and at the point where no one can get all 13 points--so that determines the next-to-last qualification spot. Down to just game #1, which somehow has only gone 7 rounds in about 3 weeks. Frustrating, but we need to wait to see who the final qualifier will be.

1) whydelilah has deadbeatted in the Triple Alliance game and missed 3 invites for the Caribbean Islands. As such, he is kicked out of the tournament.

2) Therefore, we now know the 60 players who have qualified for the third round, as 29 points is enough for first alternate position. Per tournament rules, the first alternate will get invites to the remaining 7 games in Round 3 that whydelilah has yet to play.

3) Unfortunately, despite these facts, I cannot send the final invite for the Triple Alliance game (or the final two for the Caribbean games). If Hath scores any points in his active Balkans game, he will pass mickunited333 on the scoreboard. If that happens, Hath is the qualifier and mickunited333 is the alternate. The alternate is going to miss a Triple Alliance game, which means 18 points that he cannot score. We have to know who is the qualifier and who is the alternate before proceeding.

4) That Balkans game is in the 26th round. It's moving a little faster, but we still are several days away at the current pace.

5) Due to the above, the terminator invites for Round 3 are being held a few more days.